Chapter 172 New Position
On August 1st, at Real Madrid's training ground, several new faces appeared in the locker room: Di Maria, Pedro León, Canales, and Khedira—all midfielders and forwards.
This time, it was Casillas and Ramos who led the way in greeting their new teammates in the locker room.
A few days ago, Raul and Guti, who dedicated all their youth and sweat to Real Madrid, both left their beloved clubs. One went to Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, and the other went to Besiktas in the Turkish Super League. Casillas and Ramos officially became the captain and vice-captain of Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally got the number 7 jersey he had been longing for, while Alonso took the number 14 jersey that Guti had left behind.
Fino did not compete with Alonso for number 14.
On the one hand, he wears number 10 for both the national team and his club, and his management team wants FC10 (Fino Cabrini 10) to become his personal brand, strongly opposing his reverting to number 14, which he wore during his time at AC Milan.
On the other hand, Real Madrid also disagreed with him changing his jersey number. After Fino shone brightly at the World Cup, he had become a shining symbol of Real Madrid. The club hoped that he could be strongly associated with the number 10, which symbolizes the soul and core of the team. Fino, who is strong, handsome and a gentleman, perfectly fits the image of a great, noble and glorious club that Real Madrid has always wanted to build.
Fino understood the reasoning, so he didn't insist, especially after Alonso expressed his desire to switch to number 14, which dispelled the last bit of hesitation in Fino's heart.
After the South Africa World Cup final, there seemed to be something more between him and Alonso that was hard to explain. Perhaps it had been there before, but he just hadn't noticed it.
Eyes and heartbeats don't lie; he's not stupid, he knows what they mean.
This kind of throbbing isn't a good thing; it can control one's emotions and disrupt one's peaceful life. This is something he learned from his dead first love, and he'd better pretend he doesn't know it.
Alonso seems to have made the same choice; he is a more clear-headed and rational person than I am.
They understood each other without saying a word.
He believes the relationship will soon return to normal, just as he now hardly thinks about his past with Inzaghi anymore.
Amid the players' pleasantries, Real Madrid's new captain, José Mourinho, entered the locker room accompanied by Florentino Pérez.
Mourinho, who led Inter Milan to a treble this summer, looks smug and has eagerly announced his season goals.
“I came to Real Madrid to win championships, whether it's La Liga, the Copa del Rey, or the Champions League, I want them all! Don't think I'm arrogant. Real Madrid is the most expensive team in the world, and you are the most expensive players in the world, but last season I led Inter Milan to the treble. What championships did you win? In the locker room, I am the boss. You must obey my orders. Only one voice is allowed in the locker room…”
The players looked at each other blankly, and finally, led by Casillas, mechanically began to applaud.
Florentino remained unfazed, still wearing a polite smile, patted Mourinho on the shoulder, and left the locker room.
While the players were warming up in twos and threes on the training field, the whispers around Fino never stopped. The teammates were discussing the new coach while warming up, and the assistant coach also began to call on the players one by one to have individual talks with Mourinho in his office.
Fino was the last one.
Mourinho wants to talk to Fino about his position.
After taking over Real Madrid, Mourinho's first task was to study the team's configuration and communicate with the sporting director about player transfers during the summer transfer window.
In Mourinho's view, even though Real Madrid spent hundreds of millions rebuilding last year, the squad is still very thin. To win, you can't just blindly pile on superstars; the squad must have no weaknesses, and Real Madrid's weaknesses are too obvious.
First, the defense is unstable. The full-backs and even the center-backs rush forward but can't get back, leaving Casillas isolated and unable to carry the team effectively. This is difficult to solve because Real Madrid has a long tradition of the defense participating in the attack, and it's hard to correct in a short time. It's a slow process that requires his patient guidance.
After Metzelder's contract expired and he left on a free transfer, Real Madrid needed to add another center-back, and Mourinho chose his trusted disciple Carvalho.
Carvalho's professional career began at Porto, where he was heavily relied upon after Mourinho took over, and he moved to Chelsea with Mourinho in 2004. Carvalho is nearing the end of his career, and with a relatively low transfer fee, coming to Real Madrid to work as a passer and dribbler is a perfect fit.
Carvalho readily agreed to reunite with his mentor at Real Madrid, and the contract is already under negotiation.
Then there's the issue of simplistic attacking tactics, with most attacks concentrated in the middle, leaving the full-backs to shoulder the burden of wing attacks. This is one of the reasons why the full-backs are unable to track back in time to defend.
Mourinho considered the existing players and realized that Ronaldo could cover one wing, so the other side needed to be strengthened. He brought in two wingers, Di Maria and Pedro León, one as a starter and the other as a substitute.
Finally, and most importantly, Real Madrid relied on a dual-pivot system: Alonso controlled the tempo and orchestrated long passes from the defensive midfield position, while Kaká carried the ball forward and orchestrated attacks from the attacking midfield position. This combination was originally fine, but Kaká's frequent injuries forced Alonso to often divert his attention to assisting Lass Diarra in clearing and intercepting attacks, preventing Real Madrid's dual-pivot system from performing to its full potential.
In the defensive midfield position, Mourinho brought in Khedira, who has stronger defensive sweeping ability, to partner with Alonso, allowing Alonso to focus on organizing and controlling the tempo.
Mourinho, however, faced a dilemma regarding the attacking midfield position.
With Kaká sidelined for half a season due to injury, no one can guarantee his form upon his return. Real Madrid must bring in an attacking midfielder to partner with Alonso in midfield.
Initially, Mourinho favored bringing Sneijder back from Inter Milan, but the club rejected the proposal outright. Having just dismissed Sneijder last season, bringing him back this season after a treble win would be a huge embarrassment for Real Madrid; they couldn't afford such a loss of face.
Mourinho wanted to try bringing Modric back from Tottenham, so he withheld the deal for Van der Vaart and refused to let Van der Vaart go to Tottenham easily.
However, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was very difficult to deal with and refused to let him go. After more than a month of wrangling, Real Madrid basically lost the possibility of getting Modric.
Unable to find suitable players, Mourinho suddenly had a new direction after seeing Finno's performance at the South Africa World Cup. He could have Finno drop back like he does in the national team, and then buy a striker; Lyon's young Benzema would be a good fit.
With the direction clear, Mourinho's thinking opened up. He watched Fino's seven World Cup matches repeatedly, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Since Fino could cooperate so well with Pirlo, he was sure he could be a good fit with Alonso as well.
Moreover, in the match between Italy and Slovakia, Fino perfectly fulfilled Pirlo's role, showing Mourinho another possibility. Fino could share some of Alonso's workload, taking on the responsibility of being the metronome and the pivot of attack and defense transitions, allowing Alonso to devote more energy to defensive interceptions and increasing Real Madrid's defensive strength.
If Alonso suffers an injury and is unable to play, Real Madrid's midfield dual-pivot strategy can be completely switched to a single-pivot system led by Fino.
At this moment, Mourinho and Sneijder shared the same idea: he believed that Fino had the potential of a top midfielder, and that if Fino dropped back into midfield, he might surpass his achievements in the attacking third.
Now only one question remains: is Fino willing? Even someone as arrogant as Mourinho wouldn't dare force a Ballon d'Or winner to change positions; he can only negotiate.
He was going to bring up Kaká, since the incident of Fino's anger over Kaká during the South Africa World Cup was only recently over, and everyone knew how good the relationship between Fino and Kaká was.
"Our goal this season is to win three titles, which is a very challenging goal. To achieve this goal, the most basic requirement is a complete lineup and good teamwork. However, our attacking core Kaka will be sidelined for half a season due to injury. This is like someone who wants to win a long-distance race breaking a leg before the competition."
Fino nodded without saying a word; he still had no idea what Mourinho was up to.
Mourinho continued, "I won't hide it from you, I originally planned to sell Kaká."
Fino smiled without saying a word; it would be strange if Mourinho sold Kaká.
Real Madrid has no intention of selling Kaká. Otherwise, they wouldn't have spent half a season giving him major repairs. The club is waiting for Kaká to recover and dominate the field, especially considering his high commercial value. Furthermore, given Kaká's transfer fee and salary, few clubs could afford him to begin with, and with him out for half a season, even fewer teams would be willing to pay.
Seeing the expression on Fino's face, Mourinho knew that Fino understood the key point, and his original plan would not work.
One of the main reasons he wanted to bring Fino to Inter Milan was because Fino was smart. Now he realizes that having a player who is too smart isn't a good thing either; they're not easy to fool!
He stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point: "The team can't find a suitable player, so during Kaká's half-season injury recovery, the team needs someone to step up and take on the responsibility of breaking through the middle and organizing the attack. I watched your performance in the World Cup, and you performed absolutely perfectly in that position. So, are you willing to take on that responsibility at the club as well?"
Fino only pondered for a few seconds before he had his answer. Just as he was about to reply, Mourinho interrupted him.
“You can go back and think about it carefully. I really think you are very suitable for midfield.”
He was worried that Fino would refuse outright.
Fino smiled and shook his head, then asked under Mourinho's feigned composure, "Are we going to play 4-2-3-1 next season?"
The positional change at the World Cup was initially a reluctant move for the Italian national team, but as the matches progressed, Fino thrived in his new position. The deeper he moved, the wider his field of vision became; he could see more attacking possibilities and then direct his teammates to execute his plans. He enjoyed this feeling of being in control.
Although he was extremely busy this summer, he kept a close eye on Real Madrid's transfers. The arrival of Di Maria and Khedira gave him some insight into Mourinho's tactics, and he guessed that Mourinho would most likely play a 4-2-3-1 formation.
He and Higuain will compete for the lone striker position, while Ronaldo and Di Maria will play on the left and right flanks respectively. The central attacking midfield position will be occupied by Kaká or a new teammate, and Alonso and Khedira will form a double defensive midfield, responsible for transitions between attack and defense and interception and sweeping.
In a 4-2-3-1 formation, the center forward often acts as a pivot, which is quite boring. Mourinho's suggestion suits his purposes perfectly!
Mourinho nodded: "We'll give it priority!"
“Then I do!” Fino laughed.
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Author's note: Some readers have misunderstood and thought this was the end. No, there's still one more full season to go, so it probably won't end within a month.
Some teachers asked what book we'll be teaching next. To be honest, I haven't thought about the next book yet. Teaching this one was just a coincidence, haha.
I was following this novel closely, but I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending (the author wrote it very well; it was just that I regretted that the final couple wasn't the one I had invested in). So, I had the idea to write my own novel and give that player a happy ending.
Then I started preparing the outline, creating the characters, organizing the timeline... After everything was done, I suddenly realized that the player didn't fit into the story...
I was supposed to make dumplings with vinegar, but now that I've kneaded the dough and prepared the filling, the vinegar has spilled...
But I really love Fino, I really love this story, and I would feel regretful if I didn't write it down, so I gritted my teeth, registered an author account, and started writing.
Unexpectedly, this story has been loved by so many teachers. I am truly grateful for everyone's support. If it weren't for so many teachers liking this story, I wouldn't have been able to persevere until now.
As for the next book, I don't have a serious idea yet, but I have a concept and would like to ask for everyone's opinion.
I'm thinking of creating an "what if" scenario where Fino is reborn more than a decade earlier than in this story. The pairing is Maldini, who is thirteen or fourteen years old, while Fino is still nine and a half. Fino's character settings (personality, appearance, background) are completely consistent with those in this story.
I don't know if everyone will find it a bit strange. I'll see what everyone thinks. If you want to read it, I'll start a pre-order. If you think it's strange, I'll write a few thousand words of irresponsible side story.
Thank you everyone for your support! [cat paw]
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